Change is in the air! The Grand Marais Playhouse is busy planning many projects for the coming months to keep all theater enthusiasts happy!
The next production will be the play We Happy Few by Imogene Stubbs. It is a fictionalized account of a real touring group of women (The Osiris Players) that presented the great works of Shakespeare to every corner of Britain during World War II. Eventually, they expanded their repertoire to include other great British playwrights. Touring in an old Rolls Royce, the company performed in schoolhouses, community halls and even pubs!
We Happy Few is a theatrical adventure! It has great roles for seven women and two guys. The story jumps back and forth through time and uses film and music to keep things moving. It will require a lot of help with set, props, costumes, film, and music.
The cast calls for 10 women and two men, with additional smaller roles possible. We are looking for actors to be:
The Grand Marais Playhouse will be presenting Emily Johnson of Catalyst Dance in The Thank You Bar at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on October 24 and 25. Johnson’s performance includes live music, dance and visual images to tell a compelling story. Johnson is joined in the performance by composers/musicians James Everest and Joel Pickard.
Hettie Oaks
leader of the troupe
Flora Pelmet
co-founder of the troupe
Helen
alcoholic children’s radio
presenter and frustrated
actress
Charlotte
Cockney tomboy, latterly
Rosalind’s girlfriend
Jocelyn
stage manager
Reggie Pelmet
Flora’s cousin (male)
Gertrude
German Jewish refugee
Joseph Rosenbaum
Gertrude’s son
Ivy
a working class girl, soon
to be Joseph’s girlfriend
Rosalind
new RADA graduate,
Helen’s daughter
There is great flexibility in the age range of each character with some limitations based on relationships.
Auditions are open to the public and will be held October 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Arrowhead Center for the Arts Auditorium. Rehearsals will be Sunday – Thursdays 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (Sundays are optional but encouraged). Performances are Dec. 4-7 and 11- 14.
The Playhouse is also seeking a stage manager, light board operator, sound board operator and backstage crew. Construction will begin November 8.
Scripts are not available in advance but the play is available for purchase as an ebook.
The Playhouse will begin a Sunday evening series of play reading and theatrical movies. Beginning November 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts. Come join us and take a role as we read through the plays in which scenes are played in We Happy Few. On Nov. 2 we will begin with Henry V.
The Playhouse will reestablish its special events committee that will plan fundraisers, movie nights and other special events. Please contact the Playhouse if you are interested in serving on this committee. The first special event is right around the corner.
The Grand Marais Playhouse is pleased to present Emily Johnson/Catalyst Dance The Thank You Bar on October 24 and 25. There is very limited seating for each performance. Advance purchase is requested. There are two performances each night. 7:00 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults.
The Thank You Bar is a performance/ installation of dance, live music, storytelling and visual image, connecting ideas of displacement, longing, and language to history, pre-conceived notions, architecture, and igloo-myth. Created and performed by choreographer Emily Johnson with composers/ musicians James Everest and Joel Pickard.
The performance features beadwork by celebrated artist Karen Beaver; costumes by Angie Vo and Kari Multz; lighting design by Heidi Eckwall and paper sculptures by Krista Kelley Walsh. The TYB touring performances include a companion concert by experimental music duo Blackfish, with artists James Everest and Joel Pickard.
The Thank You Bar is an intimate performance experience intended to engage many levels of perception and expression. Through a sophisticated concept of theatrical space, unique and powerfully minimalist dancing, and a multi-layered original soundscore, Johnson’s illusory – yet partly true – stories ride the confluence of truth and myth. Appropriate for ages 6 and up. Seating limited to 20 per performance.
Other works in the planning stages are a one act that the Playhouse will bring to the Minnesota Association of Community Theater One Act Festival in March. There will be children’s play auditions in February with performances in April. Play selection to be determined.
Stay connected to all Playhouse activities at grandmaraisplayhouse.com and our facebook page.
Grand Marais Playhouse Artistic Director Sue Hennessy provides this behind-the-scenes look at Grand Marais Playhouse activities.
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